Wrecks on Going-to-the-Sun start fire, stop traffic in Glacier National Park

Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)

Multiple car accidents on Going-to-the-Sun Road including one that caused a brief fire and sent one person to the hospital caused traffic jams on Wednesday night, Glacier National Park said Thursday.

The park said the person who was hurt was sent to the hospital to determine the extent of injuries.

Glacier described the incidents as follows:

At around 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, park dispatch received reports of an accident and a vehicle on fire about two miles east of the Apgar campground turn off.

A 70-year-old male from Texas fell asleep and drove off the road on the Lake McDonald side while driving west. The car hit a tree and then started on fire.

The driver and a 65-year-old female passenger were able to get out of the car on their own. Other motorists stopped to assist.

The female passenger was sent by ambulance to Logan Health in Whitefish to determine extent of injuries.

The fire left approximately a 20-by-20 yard burn scar on the lake side of the road, with flames at one point reaching from the base of trees to the crown. Martin City and Hungry Horse Fire Departments put out the fire. The car was destroyed.

ALERT helicopter was requested and landed close by in the park but did not proceed to the scene of the accident as the passenger chose to be transported by ambulance.

The accident impeded traffic on Going-to-the-Sun Road for three hours.

Two separate earlier accidents sometime after 3 p.m. slowed traffic at the park entrance and at “the loop.”

An accident halfway between “the loop” and the west tunnel occurred when a vehicle swerved to miss another vehicle that crossed over the yellow line, causing the first vehicle to hit a rock outcropping and disabling the vehicle.

Around the same time, two vehicles collided while merging from two lanes at the park entrance. No injuries occurred in either accident.

Glacier National Park would like to thank the Martin City, Hungry Horse and Coram Fire Departments, ALERT helicopter, Three Rivers Ambulance along with other visitors who stopped to assist until rangers and ambulance crews arrived on the scene.

The post Wrecks on Going-to-the-Sun start fire, stop traffic in Glacier National Park appeared first on Daily Montanan .